Oliver Turns 6!!!

Today is Oliver's 6th birthday.  That sweet, happy little baby has turned into a sweet, funny, creative, technically-minded, hard-working little man who loves his sister and brother dearly.  He is a joy to be with.  He and Lily play so well together (most days).  He has commented several times, "I just can't believe Brahm is real!  We have a REAL baby!"  He just LOVES Brahm.  And Brahm loves him!

We are celebrating Oliver this weekend.  Yesterday, he had a few friends over to party with Legos and to go swimming.  We are so thankful for wonderful friends in his life!  Several of these boys he met this year in kindergarten, and they have become really good friends.  We are so grateful for Walton!  (his school)

 

We are having a family celebration today:  he requested French Puffs for breakfast (really YUMMY sugary-cinnamony-muffin things), and then we opened gifts.  He was able to put together FOUR new lego sets over the last two days!  Later this afternoon, we're eating at IHOP--at his request.  

 

  And we thought that since he's turning 6, this would be a good time for another interview.  Thanks for the idea, Erin!

What is your favorite color?  Gold
Who is your best friend?  Max
What is your favorite movie?  "Despicable Me"  (although, Lily was instructing him to say, "Up")
What do you like to do best outside?  play basketball
What do you like to do best inside?  Play legos!
What is your favorite game?  war  (the card game)
What is your favorite thing to wear?  a helmet
Where would you like to go on vacation?  To the high mountains, and then to the desert
What do you like best about Lily?  When we have sleepovers
What do you like best about Brahm?  When Brahm tells me secrets
What would you like to do/learn now that you're 6?  Go play basketball with Daddy every Friday
What would you like to do when you grow up? Be an engineer
What is your favorite toy?  Legos
What do you sleep with at night?  Brahm (in the same room...)
What do you like to do with your family?  Go watch fireworks
What is your favorite art project?  the book I made (the one from Aunt NeeNee)
What is your favorite subject at school?  Computers
What is your favorite cereal?  Marshmallow Mateys
What is your favorite snack?  Trail mix
What is your favorite drink?  Pop--Diet Pepsi (NO idea where this came from!)
What is your favorite animal?  Dog
What is your favorite book?  "Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel" and Laura Ingalls Wilder books

We are so excited to see where '6' takes you, Oliver! 

Spring Break Trip 2013

We hadn't seen my Grandma Ruby and Grandpa Laverne in a long time--since before Brahm was born, so we decided that Spring Break would be a good time go on a little vacation.  The only problem?  We left 80 degree weather and Kansas, and drove to Wisconsin, where we encountered TWO winter storms.  Sheesh.  

We had a great time anyway, and lots of fun memories to go with it!

 

We ate supper in KC at Fritz's--that was so fun for the kids!  Joel ordered food on the phone...

Then, they watched as the food was lowered from the train...

We stayed with my sister, Courtney, in KC for the night and had a fun night walking through her neighborhood.  Brahm enjoyed ice cream on his special place...the counter! 

 

 The next morning we drove up to Owatonna, MN to see my aunt and uncle, and then on to Wisconsin, to stay with my grandma.  We passed through beautiful sunny weather, and then came Minnesota--where they had just had snow and ice that morning!

 Stopped at the border of Minnesota and admired the large Vikings....and the large cinnamon rolls!






 No trip to Minneapolis is complete without a trip to IKEA and the Mall of America, although we probably could have thought twice and decided NOT to go on a Saturday.  Talk about INSANE crowds...

 The Lego Store...

 

A random airplane guy...

 BUMPER CARS!!!!

 This poor little guy did lots of watching his big brother and sister....just wasn't big enough for rides!

 Riding Blue's Clues...

 Semi Trucks!

 And this little one finally fell asleep the last 10 minutes we were there.  And then was good the rest of the day....:-(

Brahm finally got to meet Great Grandma Ruby!  

 And here is a (really bad!) photo of the kids with Great Grandma and Great Grandpa.  He was moved to a long-term care home this last summer, so we were thankful to see him for a while!

 We had to take a little drive down to Pepin to see the Laura Ingalls Wilder House in the Woods.  We've been reading Little House in the Big Woods this winter, so it was a perfect opportunity to drive by it.  Too bad there was too much snow to get any closer!

  This was the crazy snow that we drove home in....15 hours of driving....should have taken us about 10 or 11....

 

 We were so glad to get away, but REALLY glad to drive into warm temperatures and sunshine Monday evening! 

Snow Days 2013

We had a 6 day-long weekend due to snow here in Kansas.  That is unheard of.  The weather-freak in me was ELATED.  The mother in me, OVERWHELMED.  I am NOT a homebody, and these 6 days of everyone home made me MORE than a little stir-crazy.  But we survived, and I was so glad that Oliver and Lily are old enough to love the snow.  They spent many hours outside playing, and even Brahm tried it out!  Since I don't take pictures very often, I figured this would be a good time to chronicle all the different things we did over that long weekend:

 The snow started, and we were pretty much glued to the windows.  Luckily, we had done our grocery shopping the day before, so all we needed to do was stay warm and enjoy the beautiful snow!

 When we woke up Thursday, there was a LOT of snow!  It easily reached up to Oliver and Lily's thighs in front of the house.

 Laundry basket fun.  For some reason, this is one of their FAVORITE things to play with!

 Playing on mommy's bed...he was CRAZY wild that day!

 Building fort #1 with Taylor...

 She tries to occasionally clip Brahm's nails.  Luckily, I stopped her after taking this picture.  :-)

 Snowman Smith came to life Saturday, after the first snow storm stopped and before the second one came...

 Brahm and me...

 Taking rides on Dave's four-wheeler--the kids LOVED this!

Sunday, before the second storm, we went to El Dorado to go sledding down the HUGE hills on the back side of the dam.  Unfortunately, the snow was TOO soft, and we had to push ourselves down.  Here is Oliver coming down...

 The kids got into the cartoon version of "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe", so that was a favorite over the weekend.  Fit in well with the snow, I thought!

 Seriously, he loves this spot.  Anytime he can be alone, with a snack, he is in toddler-heaven.

 Chasing. 

Taylor and Mason came over one morning for a change of scenery (and thankfully, Oliver and Lily were able to go next door the day before...just before my mental break-down....)  :-)

 They watched a movie under the coffee table, played games, and had fun with balloons.

 Building fort #2...

 This boy LOVES a good mirror session.  He plays hide-and-seek with the mirror-version of himself.  Pretty funny to watch!

 I allowed more than normal amounts of screen time...and I didn't even feel that guilty about it!  :-)

 It really was a beautiful snow....just incredible.

 We made bubble goo....cornstarch and hand soap.  It was fun to play with for a while!

It's good to have these pictures.  We DID have fun together!  Joel was able to be home for most of the first 4 days of it, which was so fun.  And we'll always remember the Blizzard of Oz 2013!